[progressally_objectives]

Video

Lesson

“I don’t know what I think until I write it down.”

Joan Didion

Writing is powerful, and I don’t just say that because I’m a writer!

Journaling is probably one of the most powerful mental health practices out there — it’s how we work through our problems, it’s how we document our lives, and it’s how we understand what we really think. Like mindfulness, it’s another way of eavesdropping on the mind!

In Brene Brown’s (awesome, amazing, powerful) book Rising Strong, she writes that delving into story is the most powerful part of the rising strong process:

“The reckoning is how we walk into our story; the rumble is where we own it. The goal of the rumble is to get honest about the stories we’re making up about our struggles, to revisit, challenge, and reality-check these narratives as we dig into topics such as boundaries, shame, blame, resentment, heartbreak, generosity, and forgiveness.”

So start writing!

Your Mindful Move

After sitting for a few moments in meditation, take some time to write. What came up? What thoughts were circling around your head?

Buddhists like to use the phrase “monkey mind” to describe how our minds are always jumping from branch to branch to branch, constantly zinging around with no seeming purpose. I like to say that with meditation, we recognize not just all the branches that our mind darts around, but we start to see the trunk…. and the roots. We start to see what’s REALLY going on.

So when you start getting glimpses of insight …. write them down. Work through your story. Is it true? Do you need more information? What are you learning about yourself?

“Writing helps us focus and organize [our] experience.” James Pennebaker

“Translating messy, difficult experiences into language essentially makes them ‘graspable.'” Brene Brown